November 29, 2014

If you're a store owner or manager, you can have a special role to plan when the sh*t hits the fan, if you choose to. If your store has food or merchandise that is helpful for survival situations, you can methodically secure your store and establish a barter location at the start of the collapse to help yourself and many others.

First and foremost, you should be concerned with the security of your family, yourself, and your employees if they are still with you, so if at any time you feel like it might be too dangerous, just leave to be with them and retreat to a secure location.

Once you are sure the society will collapse (by this time the electricity will be out, credit cards aren't processing, the water is not running in the pipes, and the police have lost control), you should organize your employees and friends to act as an armed security force protecting your store. Prevent looting. If people want something from your store, they will have to bring you something that you want in order to trade for what they want. It will become an overnight barter trade center. Before you start trading, however, you should set aside the items that you want to keep for yourself, your employees, and any of your security force. You can create a list of all your desired items that you are looking to trade for so the visitors can know what they can bring you in order to get what they want. If you are a store that has lots of food, you will probably be willing to trade for survival gear. If you have lots of camping gear in your store, you will probably be willing to trade for food. You can also think about trading for alternative energy, livestock, seeds, garden plants, etc. If you have meat and produce in your store, you should begin preserving it. You might need to even build a smokehouse next to the store, although, I think a dehydrator is a better option.

When most of your items have been traded or things become too dangerous, you should abandon the store and retreat to a bug out location. I would recommend leaving within 1 week of the beginning of looting. If you wait much longer, powerful gangs will rise up and the chances of a confrontation with them increase dramatically.

If big stores like Walmart and Costco implement this method, they can actually become major centers of trade if security is maintained for long enough. But I think the combination of gangs, the starving masses, fires, lack of fresh water, and lack of farmland nearby will prevent these large stores from remaining trade centers long after the collapse.

November 22, 2014

Judgment and timing is critical. If you are a police chief or a police officer, you should follow orders and do all you can to maintain the peace and prevent looting until you know with 100% certainty that society is going to collapse. Once you are certain that it is going to collapse, you need to be willing to abandon your position in order to save yourself, your loved ones, and possibly others. Here's what you should do.

If your police department is not organized and not willing to work together to survive, you should act like any individual trying to survive the collapse.

Since society is collapsing, you'll want to bug out to the wilderness. But first, gather as much food and supplies as possible. This includes your share of police gear if you can get it. Dehydrate and preserve the foods that can be preserved. Pack everything up and leave with your loved ones for a bug out location. Make sure everyone in your group knows the bug out location and back up bug out location are, just in case you get separated. Be careful on your journey and good luck adapting to your new hunting/gather/farming lifestyle.

If on the other hand, the police department is organized and you want to do what will result in the best outcome for the largest amount of people, you will facilitate a CONTROLLED COLLAPSE. Sounds crazy right? But if the electricity goes out, supply lines and water lines stop running, it's not going to be possible to maintain a civil society. Your best bet is to do a few things that will minimize violence, looting, and a rapid rise of gangs.

You can have all the police officers and their loved ones meet at a secret location with as much food and survival supplies as possible. The loved ones and 1/8 to 1/3 of the police officers can leave in a convoy for a bug out location, or if they won't all be surviving together, a rendezvous point in a safe rural location with access to fresh water. They will be armed and have their share of ammo with them to keep the loved ones safe.

The remaining police force can split up and secure strategic locations of interest. At first, those locations of interest will be big stores, such as Walmart, Costco, Target, and grocery stores. The police should prevent looting and post signs saying that looters will be shot. Then they should work with the managers of these stores to come up with a plan. A good plan should be something like this: The manager and the employees can get for themselves the basic supplies they will need. Then, the manager and any employees that want to stick around can begin to secure the store with their own weapons and barter the rest of the items from the store. They can post signs out front indicating the major items they are interested in. Then the people can bring these items and trade for whatever they want in the store. A store like a Walmart Supercenter almost has everything you'll need for a collapse already, but I can think of a few additonal items that are lacking, like livestock, fish, additional construction materials, and perhaps someone can provide a fence with barbwire around the walmart for security. For a grocery store, the trade will be more obvious. People bring survival supplies to the store and they get food and other supplies in exchange. Any store that has meat and produce should also begin the process of preservation.

After the first day of looting, the masses of people will go for secondary targets next. Secondary locations of interest will be Home Depots, Sporting Goods stores, Food distribution centers, and gun stores. Police officers should be sent to these locations as well and establish the same system of working with the managers and employees, setting up security, and initiating a barter system. Other secondary locations of interest will be bodies of fresh water nearest to the masses. Once water stops flowing from the faucet, people will need to get there water from somewhere. You need to anticipate where they will get their fresh water from. Police should go to those places and prevent 'water hole crimes'. They can also set up basic water filters and explain to people how they work, so they can set up their own filters in the future.

At all these locations of interest, they should put up signs with important information that instructs the masses what they can do to protect themselves and attempt to survive. They should also try to hand out flyers with pictures of edible plants.

The major achievement of securing and establishing markets for barter will be that the looters and gangs will be prevented from rising to power in a matter of days. By putting the power in the hands of store managers and allowing them to create their own security force, they will be a major power opposition to the guys who will gain their power by killing and stealing. I'd rather have the store managers be in power than thugs and street gangs. I would imagine that most of these stores will not remain intact and continue to be a place of trade for more than a few weeks, but at least it will be secure and systematic. However, it is possible that a few of those places might stay open as trade centers, and eventually turn into centers of commerce to the survivors. But most likely, once the managers and employees have the items they need and see that things are getting really dangerous, they will bug out.

Tertiary locations of interest will be dairies, ranches, and any farms and orchards that are near harvest. Police can go to these locations and establish similar systems. However, by this time, it will be nearing the time for the police to pull out and withdraw to the rendezvous location of their loved ones to begin their new life. While the police are setting up the security and barter systems, they should be able to get paid their fair share of food for helping the stores.

Finally, if any police officers should be so inclined, they can check in with the population centers every now and then to see what type of power structures have been established. If there are ruthless gangsters that are stealing, killing, and raping everyone in sight, the police might want to take them out. Maybe the SWAT guys would enjoy this mission. I think it requires a level of discretion, however. I would be OK with some guys rising to power who display a minimum amount of tyranny. For example, I am OK with people going into abandoned homes and taking stuff, or heavy discipline within one's own ranks, but I'm not OK with random executions, raping women, and other injustices like that. Those guys need to be taken out.

November 15, 2014

If the US society collapses, unfortunately our military will collapse as well, since they rely on the same electrical grid, supply lines, irrigation, etc. However, I believe the military is also best suited to organize themselves and survive the collapse. Here's how they can do it.

First, they need to stock up on a moderate level of the most basic survival supplies. A lot of military bases will already have a lot of these supplies, but some of these items they might not have. It would only cost about $20 per person. Some necessary supplies are seeds, emergency blankets, cord, fire starters, desiccant packs, and specially made shtf survival guides, but I guess the basic survival guide field manuals will work in a pinch. They should also stock up a 1 year supply of food for about 5% of their personnel. If they can stock up more, that would be great, but I don't know if that's realistic.

Then, they should divide 95% of their personnel into groups of about 15. So, if the average military base has 5,000, there will be 317 groups. The other 5% should be divided into groups of 50, so that will make 5 large groups. A map should be created with 322 camp locations identified. They should be scattered throughout rural and wilderness areas next to small bodies of water. Ideally, the 5 large groups will create base camps and the 317 small groups will be satellite camps. The base camps should be located in rural areas where water is readily available year-round and there is about 3 square miles of arable land nearby. Some military bases might be located in a location like this already. If so, that's perfect and that military base can be used as a base camp. The satellite camps should be located within a 7 day hike of the base camp and at least 1/2 a mile from one another. There should be about around 60-70 satellite camps linked to every base camp.

Next, all the supplies, gear, weapons, ammo, and vehicles should be evenly divided among the groups, except for the food. A 1 year supply of food will go to the soldiers who will be based at the 5 base camps. The soldiers assigned to the satellite camps will receive as much of the leftover food rations as possible. They can also quickly visit stores and food distribution centers and try to secure more food.

If vehicles are still working, they can load up and drive to their designated camps. If vehicles aren't working, they can march. The groups can grow in size by adding family, friends, and other refugee citizens to their numbers, but I wouldn't go beyond doubling or tripling.

The goal of the base camps will be to set up a large self-sustaining commune. Their primary duties will be to secure their camp and grow as much food as possible, not just for their numbers, but as much as possible. Construction and irrigation will be key. If all works according to plan, in a year or two, the satellite camp inhabitants can join the base camps as agriculture can once again sustain their numbers. In the meantime, the satellite camps can garden themselves, but they will also rely on the land for sustenance. The camps can trade and share food, but it is good practice to consider every camp independent and responsible for their own survival.

Communication can be maintained between all the groups. Trade will be encouraged. Working with other survivors will be encouraged. However, strict utilitarian discipline must be maintained. If there isn't enough food to go around, outside refugees can not be helped, which is why it is good to have these camps in rural locations. On the other hand, if enough food is available, outsiders should be taken in as often as possible.

In a few years, assuming all goes well, it will be evident that the military was able to survive much more efficiently than average Americans. They will have saved thousands or millions of lives as well. And in the process of surviving, the base camps will become the new trade centers and thriving cities in years to come. It will aid in rapidly reviving society.

If even more money and preparation was lent to this concept than what I am proposing here, many more American lives could be saved through the help of the military. It could be as simple as spending about $40 billion in order to save 1/2 of Americans if the SHTF.

One final note, if the military has any combat and air power capabilities in tact after a few months, they should do what they can to strike the thugs that rise to power via violence, stealing, and lying. There will be horrible gangs and warlords that will rise from the ashes. No mercy should be shown to them. Find their headquarters and bomb them to smithereens. If this is done, it will greatly accelerate the rebuilding of America.

November 8, 2014

If you only have a budget of $1,000 to spend on survival supplies, but you don't know what to get or how to prioritize, you can use this list as a reference. This list would be for a complete collapse of society and you are bugging out to a temperate wilderness location. This list is only for one person though, so you'll need to adjust your personal list accordingly. You could easily spend tens of thousands on survival supplies, but if you only spend $1,000 on the right items and have some survival know-how, I think your chances of survival are in the 90% range. Good luck!

November 1, 2014

Summary: Pre-purchase survival supply care packages and use the military to distribute them to people with the intent of them living in groups of 30 near small bodies of water and arable land.

I recently heard that FEMA spends $5 billion a year in preparation for an end of the world type scenario, where the US society would collapse. Great! Instead of spending that money on hardening our electrical grid and protecting our critical infrastructures, which $5 billion alone could basically do, they've probably consulted with some wonderful risk assessment firm that's owned by the cousin of the head of FEMA and the rest of the money they spend on meetings, meetings, department retreats, more meetings, spectacular over the top computer software models, a state of the art underground bunker for 100 VIPs, and some more retreats. Our government is so incompetent that I don't expect FEMA will save many people during a real emergency. They couldn't even do a good job with Katrina or Sandy. The military is your best bet, but in a true WROL or EOTWAWKI scenario, nobody will be coming to the rescue of most Americans.

What will FEMA do in a nationwide emergency? Knowing how government bureaucrats work, they will probably attempt to corral people into neat central locations so they can keep track of everybody, talk nonsense on their walkie talkies as if they know what they're doing, and bring supplies to people there. Woohoo, slow starvation and refugee camp rioting! Sounds like fun.

So, that being said, here's how I think FEMA should spend that $5 billion instead...

First, they should harden our electrical grid and secure our critical infrastructures. But they're idiots, so that's not gonna happen.

If you truly want to save lives when the SHTF, here's the best way to do it from the government's perspective with a large budget. Instead of $5 billion, lets go ahead and forward 7 years of that for this project, so $35 billion. $35 billion divided by 330 million (about the number of people in the US at any given time) is $106 per person. With just $100 worth of supplies, you can radically increase a person's survival chances, so this is a good start. Now, instead of giving every person $106 worth of supplies and sending them on their way, let's group people into groups of 30. Why 30? It's a nice round number. Smaller groups will lack security and manpower. Larger groups are more difficult to organize. With a group of 30, you're gonna get a few different families working together to forge a new life. It's the perfect size for a group that can be secure and everybody will understand their responsibility to contribute to the group. So, instead of $106 per person, we get a budget of $3,180 per group of 30. Let's round it off to $3,200. Then, we buy the following items with that budget.

Item

Cost Per Item

Quantity

Total Cost

survival knife

$15

5

$75

Fire starter

$4

4

$16

assorted seeds

$4

30

$120

emergency blanket

$1

30

$30

emergency flashlight (crank powered)

$10

2

$20

rat traps

$3

3

$9

large tarp

$8

7

$56

cord

$1

15

$15

filet knife

$5

1

$5

water bottle (stainless steel)

$5

25

$125

map

$5

1

$5

grill rack for cooking/dehydrating

$2

5

$10

duct tape

$4

2

$8

binoculars

$8

1

$8

signal mirror

$7

1

$7

Bible

$3

1

$3

mosquito net

$10

20

$200

zip lock bags

$8

30

$240

gloves

$2

4

$8

lighters

$1

10

$10

petroleum jelly

$1

30

$30

glass vials

$1

10

$10

sewing kit

$3

1

$3

pepper spray

$5

1

$5

fishing hooks

$6

1

$6

fishing string

$2

4

$8

bait

$4

1

$4

cable ties

$1

3

$3

bells

$1

5

$5

dustmasks

$1

6

$6

condoms

$1

5

$5

small woodwind instrument

$5

1

$5

snares/snare wire

$4

2

$8

sinkers

$2

1

$2

fish trap

$11

1

$11

whistle

$1

2

$2

desiccant packs

$6

30

$180

cotton balls

$1

2

$2

2 New Testaments

$1

1

$1

twine

$1

10

$10

collapsable water jug

$10

3

$30

bowstring

$6

10

$60

sports water bottle w/ bent straw

$7

3

$21

yo yo fishing reel

$6

2

$12

sharpening stone

$3

4

$12

saw

$6

1

$6

pots, pans, bowls, dishes

$60

1

$60

printed survival info

$50

1

$50

straws

$1

1

$1

small fresnel lens

$3

5

$15

shovel

$6

2

$12

bleach

$1

5

$5

fleece sleeping blanket

$15

15

$225

fleece blanket

$7

2

$14

flour

$8

57

$456

trash bags

$1

7

$7

rice

$1

30

$30

pasta

$1

30

$30

baking soda

$1

30

$30

soap

$1

50

$50

buckets

$11

3

$33

swiss army knife

$1

7

$7

grill toppers

$1

8

$8

aluminum foil

$1

10

$10

toothbrushes

$2

30

$60

towels

$3

30

$90

compass

$4

1

$4

cooking utensils

$5

1

$5

dental repair kit

$4

1

$4

cutlery

$1

15

$15

cooking oil

$4

1

$4

pencils

$1

4

$4

paper

$1

10

$10

cutting board

$1

4

$4

dental floss

$1

30

$30

tracker knife

$15

2

$30

salt

$1

30

$30

paintbrush

$1

1

$1

razors

$3

10

$30

super glue

$1

2

$2

mirror

$1

7

$7

potatoes

$1

2

$2

hydrogen peroxide

$1

7

$7

bandaids

$3

5

$15

bandages

$2

5

$10

sutures

$2

3

$6

antibiotic ointment

$1

5

$5

windshield cover

$4

24

$96

small axe

$8

1

$8

machete

$5

1

$5

camp shower

$10

1

$10

cheap emergency flashlight

$2

4

$8

emergency radio

$24

1

$24

garden hand tools

$6

1

$6

deck of cards

$1

1

$1

axe

$18

1

$18

pick mattock

$23

1

$23

hoe

$16

1

$16

taper saw file

$7

1

$7

large fresnel lens

$30

1

$30

epoxy glue

$4

1

$4

work gloves

$5

1

$5

aspirin

$1

2

$2

beans

$1

30

$30

tilapia

$1

10

$10

rabbits

$5

2

$10

super worms

$1

2

$2

54 piece tupperware

$12

1

$12

6 plastic water bottles

$1

5

$5

tweezers

$1

1

$1

onions

$1

1

$1

scissors

$1

1

$1

nail clippers

$1

1

$1

tea strainer

$1

1

$1

pulley set

$5

1

$5

small backpack

$13

1

$13

funnel

$1

1

$1

hose 15 ft

$8

1

$8

saint candle

$1

1

$1

TOTAL

$3,200

These items can be distributed in a few different ways.

1) People can come to their nearest military base, where they will be handed out. Once the group receives their items, they will be escorted by a couple soldiers to their own predesignated spot on the map. It will likely be near a stream or small lake that has arable land. Every small lake, every pond, and every 1/2 mile along a creek will become homesteads to the new survivors through this system.

2) All these items can be put into a crate with a parachute. They will be care packages that can be dropped near streams and small lakes. A couple soldiers can parachute there as well, or get to those locations by land. Once there, they will flag down refugees and guide them into these new homestead camps with the care packages.

3) The care packages can be dropped wherever small groups of survivors have been spotted.

The items in the list are at the lowest consumer prices I could find. If they are bought in bulk, they might be acquired for cheaper.

The first few pages of survival info will explain the items in the care package, how they can be used, and the plan for American survival. The survival info will also have colored pictures of wild edibles, which will be necessary sustenance to carry people into the first harvest.

You may have noticed that there aren't any guns and ammo in the care package. For this project, with a limited budget, guns and ammo would just be too expensive to include, but many people will have their own firearms, which is good. Each group of 30, should have at least a couple guns. Also, any soldiers that escort them will have weapons. The soldiers might be ordered to stay with the survivors for a while and help them set up. Or, perhaps they will have the option of joining them.

In this scenario, I divvy the items out as if every American can be saved, but in reality, not everyone will and not everyone would get to the point of receiving these care packages. So, I think it would be wise to only use about $20 billion or so on these survival care packages. The other $15 billion can be used to purchase bigger, important items, such as power generating equipment, refinery kits, and radio transmitters. Those bigger items can be given to random groups.

One additional thing FEMA can do to assist in survival is to compile a wildlife sustainability heat map of the US. They can survey all the edible things in the wild to figure out how many acres of wilderness every person would need to survive, which will take into account all edible plants, insects, fish, and game. A map like this will give them a better idea of where they can send the groups of survivors and how closely they can be located in the wild. Of course, a thing like this would be most important in the first few months leading up to the first harvest.